Uranyl and uranyl-3d block cation complexes with 1,3-adamantanedicarboxylate: crystal structures, luminescence, and magnetic properties.

The reaction of 1,3-adamantanedicarboxylic acid (LH2) with uranyl nitrate under solvo-hydrothermal conditions, either alone or in the presence of additional metal cations (Co(2+), Ni(2+), or Cu(2+)) gives a series of nine complexes displaying a wide range of architectures. While [UO2(L)(H2O)]·1.25CH3CN (1) and [UO2(L)(DMF)] (2) are one-dimensional (1D) species analogous to that previously known, [H2NMe2]2[(UO2)2(L)3]·1.5H2O (3), which includes dimethylammonium counterions generated in situ, is a three-dimensional (3D) framework, and [UO2(L)(NMP)] (4) (NMP = N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) is a braid-shaped 1D polymer. When 3d block metal ions are present and bound to 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) coligands, their role is reduced to that of decorating species attached to uranyl-containing 1D polymers, as in [UO2M(L)2(bipy)2]·0.5H2O with M = Co (5) or Ni (6), and [(UO2)2Cu2(L)3(NO3)2(bipy)2]·0.5H2O (9), or of counterions, as in [Ni(bipy)3][(UO2)4(O)2(L)3]·3H2O (7), in which a two-dimensional (2D) assembly is built from tetranuclear uranyl-containing building units. In contrast, the heterometallic 3D framework [UO2Cu(L)2] (8) can be isolated in the absence of bipy. The emission spectra measured in the solid state display the usual uranyl vibronic fine structure, with various degrees of resolution and quenching, except for that of complex 7, which shows emission from the nickel(II) centers. The magnetic properties of complexes 5, 6, 8, and 9 were investigated, showing, in particular, the presence of zero-field splitting effects in 6 and weak antiferromagnetic interactions in 9.